While thermal insulation is a primary concern in the construction of most new residential and commercial buildings, very little thought is given to the sound proofing of these structures; either from the standpoint of insulating the interior of th building from the surrounding ambient noise; or from the standpoint of confining internally generated noise within a limited area.
In as much as the external wall thickness of most modern buildings act as a buffer against sound propagation, coupled with the widespread use of sealed windows having a vacuum chamber that provides thermal as well as acoustical insulation, most modern buildings have an inherent external sound insulation consideration factored into their construction.
With respect to internally propagated sound, most modern constructions rely on carpet and acoustical ceiling tiles to compensate for normal noise levels encountered in most homes and offices. In instances wherein abnormally high decibel levels are present, which is usually only found in a commercial environment, specialized constructions must be employed to acoustically isolate the source of the noise.
The aforementioned specialized constructions are very expensive to fabricate and require precision installation to maintain the integrity of the particular acoustical barrier employed. Obviously this type of an acoustical barrier would be neither practical nor desirable for widespread residential use on a cost versus benefit standpoint.
Anyone who has lived in an apartment, having a common wall between the adjacent dwellings, is well aware of the noise pollution that can be transmitted through these membranes which act as sound boards. The same situation exists with the internal room partitions found in most single family detached homes, whereby sound is readily transmitted through the walls in an identical manner.
Up until the present invention was developed, there had not been available a low cost acoustical building panel that: would substantially reduce the noise levels transmitted therethrough; and, which could be employed as the primary partition surface; or, as an auxiliary partition surface, to define a sound inhibiting chamber.